Wishing Well(83)

Smiling to comfort him, I wanted to reach out to wipe the worried lines from his face, but knowing he would only pull away, I curled my fingers into my palms. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything. Not one damn thing. Okay? And if I don’t make it down the basement in time, I’ll wait for you by the employee door leading outside.”

Maurice nodded his head before settling back into his seat. “Okay.”

And if I wanted to keep that promise, I would have to get going. Already, the day was getting late. Standing from my seat, I pressed two fingers to my lips and blew him a kiss. “I’ll be back, Maurice, and then we’ll find out what I can teach you later.”

He nodded his head and it killed my not to be able to hug him, to hold him in a way he still wouldn’t allow. Maurice’s idea of physical affection often led to rough sex, and there was no time for that, not if I wanted to send the email to my sister, buy a phone and make it back in time.

Not only that, but I needed to shower. Doing so in the basement only led to Maurice climbing in to dirty my body after I got it clean.

“I’ll see you when I get back,” I called out, leaving the yellow room to race down the hall to the elevator. After going to my room on the fifth floor, showering and getting dressed, I left the hotel via the back employee gate of the garden.

It didn’t take long for me to reach the Internet cafe, and by now the clerk recognized me well enough to call out my name as I entered. “Penny! How are you today?”

“Good,” I answered, tossing enough money to buy myself a half hour.

Shaking his head, he opened the cash register and handed me a receipt with the login code. “Why haven’t you bought a phone yet? Coming here all the time has to be a pain in the ass.”

“I’m buying one after leaving here today.”

The cashier grinned. “Well, in that case, I’ll miss you. Desk three is open.”

“Thanks!”

Within seconds, I was at desk three, logging into my email provider to find dozens of emails spanning the past few weeks, each subject line becoming more panicked and urgent. When I reached the email with the subject line, MOM IS DEAD!! , my heart was a drumbeat in my throat and I clicked to open it.

Tears burst from my eyes, my hand flying to my mouth as if that would stop the loud sobs from escaping my lips. I could barely read the words through my tears that wouldn’t stop streaming, could hardly understand what Meadow’s email was saying.

Apparently, she’d been sending me emails for over a week to let me know my mom and her new husband were in a car accident, that neither of them had survived. When I didn’t answer, she’d lost her patience and had written me this email with the horrible subject line, hoping it would catch my attention.

Meadow was an intelligent girl. She had a good head on her shoulders. She knew where to find me. Why hadn’t she called the hotel to let me know the news? Perhaps, her shock, her pain, her agony from losing mom had made it impossible for her to think logically. Telling myself I would ask her that question when I had a chance, I scrolled through the next several emails with the details of the funeral she was planning. Refusing to have it without me there, she made plans to come to the city to find me, and her last email, dated that morning, told me she’d arrived into town safe and sound.

She was staying with her best friend, Gia, at her house in our old neighborhood. Glancing at the clock on the computer screen, I calculated driving distances and determined I could make it there to see her and get back to the hotel on time.

Panic and grief have a way of scrambling the mental wires, logic becoming absent as emotion takes control. I should have gone back to the hotel and called Gia. Meadow should have called the hotel to get in touch with me. When you take all the ‘should haves’ and wrap them up in a neat little package, you see just how ridiculous the mistakes had been. But who has time for that when their heart is tearing in two? My sister needed me just as desperately as I needed her.

Racing from the cafe, I flagged down a cab, and after jumping in the back without concern for cost, I rattled off Gia’s address.

The cabby turned to me, his brows pulled tightly together. “That’s a forty-five minute drive. Do you know how much that will cost?”

“I don’t care,” I practically yelled, tears still streaming, “just get me there now!”

After looking at me like I was insane, he shrugged a shoulder and took off down the road. The drive felt like it took days instead of less than an hour.

Gia’s house was exactly as I remembered it, a single story ranch style with blue shutters and a red door. The yard her mother had always meticulously maintained was in full bloom now that we were in the middle of spring, and from what I could see the white picket fence had just received a fresh coat of paint. I tossed some cash to the driver when he told me the ridiculous fee, but before climbing out and letting him drive away, a moment of logic took over.

“Can you wait for me to come back out? I’ll need a ride back to the city.”

Shaking his head in disbelief, he pulled out his phone and started scrolling through. “Whatever you want. The fare’s the same whether the car is moving or not.”

“Thanks,” I said, my voice distracted as I ran down the small sidewalk leading to Gia’s door. Ringing the bell, I tapped my foot anxiously waiting for someone to answer. Gia finally pulled it open, confusion wrinkling her brow. “Meadow? You could have just walked inside.”